Why Microsoft needed to make Windows run Linux software

And how it could leapfrog Apple as the dev platform of choice.

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[beebee]

BeowulfSchaeffer[/url]":2bt40ys0]"Linux for various reasons still may not be the most comfortable desktop platform..."

I've had both Windows and Linux Mint on my computer for about a year I think. I put Mint on to "try it out" and I like it quite a lot. I rarely go back to windows (7 Pro) and whenever I do, I have to update all of the software and restart the machine, sometimes multiple times. I have to say, Linux just... works.

Windows update is just plain awful. When it works, fine. When it breaks, it is a pain. Linux/BSD package management isn't perfect, but it is far better than Windows update.

 

[beebee]

kobblestown[/url]":1oypfu1b]

beebee[/url]":1oypfu1b]

BeowulfSchaeffer[/url]":1oypfu1b]"Linux for various reasons still may not be the most comfortable desktop platform..."

I've had both Windows and Linux Mint on my computer for about a year I think. I put Mint on to "try it out" and I like it quite a lot. I rarely go back to windows (7 Pro) and whenever I do, I have to update all of the software and restart the machine, sometimes multiple times. I have to say, Linux just... works.

Windows update is just plain awful. When it works, fine. When it breaks, it is a pain. Linux/BSD package management isn't perfect, but it is far better than Windows update.

In all fairness, this is largely due to the development model. The Linux kernel and most of the software that comprise a Linux distribution are open source and the binaries can be freely distributed by anyone. This allows to build repositories for distributions which contain all packages and their dependencies. As a result, there's little code duplication, because libraries are pulled as dependencies rather than being installed by each application. The distribution is more coherent, because everyone runs the same sets of packages wrt package versions (minor updates notwithstanding). So you can expect that the different parts fit quite well. Also, everyone can create repository mirrors so chances are you have a local mirror nearby - my closest Ubuntu mirror is ~1ms away and I can download with the full speed of my connection. So I always install over the network and don't need to update the packages after installation because they are the latest versions right after installation! In short, I love it.

Having said that, it's not always easy to install later versions of specific applications. They may depend on newer version of their dependencies and so forth down the chain. The most painless way is to move to the next version of the distribution, say from Debian stable to Debian testing. I usually manage such situations with root jails (using schroot). I guess Docker and the like can help too (I haven't yet tried). But sometimes I really wish there was a single self-contained package of the latest version of sth that I download and install on my Linux machine even if I run a pretty old and rock-solid distribution.

You should see the cluster fuck known as VLC. I added Packman, upgraded ffmpg, and VLC has been shared mess. So you can add repositories and make a mess, but still nothing as bad a windows update.

Note there are non-oss repos.